


hoppier with you (and you)

by littlehuang (boyfrendery)



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Frogs and Frog Puns, Getting Together, Multi, Polyamory, Renjun and Xiaojun are BFFs, Roommates, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26637928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyfrendery/pseuds/littlehuang
Summary: Living with Lucas and Hendery is great: Renjun captures frogs for his roommates and, in exchange for the hard work, his share of rent is low. They're friendly, they're sweet, and he loves spending time with them.There's only one problem: the Wongs are dating each other and Renjun is catching feelings for both of them.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 31
Kudos: 110
Collections: Challenge #1 — and they were roommates





	hoppier with you (and you)

**Author's Note:**

> a momentous occasion: the debut of the triple huang ao3 tag. enjoy!
> 
> special thanks to sam for beta reading for me ♡

“So… how do you know Mark?” Hendery asks, holding open the lobby door.

Renjun met the Wongs half an hour ago and Hendery, he decides, is the more awkward of the two, but not the kind of awkward that’s unbearable—whose disposition creeps onto your own, makes you feel _their_ awkwardness by means of, like, psychological osmosis or something. He’s the type of awkward that doesn’t do well with silence, retaliating with chatter and questions as a means of diffusing the situation, exhibited by the fact that he hasn’t stopped talking since they left the café.

Lucas, on the other hand, is comparatively chill. Seems to take life as it comes, accepting the natural stillness that happens when meeting someone for the first time. Prior to this he spent the time at the café relaxing against the booth, chiming in with the occasional question or two when needed: he was in no rush to get to know Renjun, opting to nestle close to Hendery’s side and gently trace a finger up and down the side of his boyfriend’s neck during their conversation.

Renjun waits for Hendery before they continue through the lobby. “Mark’s my best friend’s boyfriend.”

“Oh! Dejun, right?” Lucas turns his head, eyes widening with interest. They’ve begun to walk in a row down the hallway, Renjun wedged between the two taller men. “I had Anthropology of Food with him last year. Sweet guy. He was on the soccer team with us in first year.” He looks over at Hendery, who hums in agreement.

“Yeah, Dejun. We basically grew up together. Childhood friends, y’know.” 

Hendery nods. “Got it. We met Mark in first year too—he lived in the same building as us and I had a Stats tutorial with him. We would’ve asked him to be our roommate but…”

“...But he moved in with Dejun,” Renjun finishes.

“Yeah. And your old roommate is doing a semester abroad, right? That’s what Mark mentioned to us.”

“ _Two_ semesters in Germany, so basically the whole school year. I’d keep our place for myself but,” Renjun pauses, shrugging. “It’s way too expensive.”

They reach the door to their home in no time: a corner unit situated at the end of the first floor hallway, to its left another entrance into the condo.

“Between the three of us, rent isn’t so bad. Plus,” Hendery stops to fish out the key from his pocket. With a swift turn of the wrist he unlocks the door and pushes it open. “We’ve got a pretty nice view.”

Nice is an understatement.

Immediately upon entry of the condo Renjun notices the floor-to-ceiling window in the living room. He spots the entry to the kitchen on his left—decently sized, furnished with the usual amenities from what he can see—and to his right, the main bedroom.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Lucas locks the door behind him, slipping off his slides and fetching a pair of house slippers. He offers a pair to Renjun. “There’s a laundry room in the hallway near the kitchen. The guest bathroom is here,” he says, gesturing to his left, “and over there is a dining area, but we’re gonna make it a study space.”

“What were you planning on doing with the second bedroom?” Renjun asks, pointing to the furthest door from the foyer. It looks like the smaller of the two bedrooms—safe to assume that’s his future room.

“Nothing, really. Make it a music room? Storage? Iunno,” Lucas answers nonchalantly.

“We didn’t plan on getting a third roommate, to be honest. But…” Hendery shifts his eyes toward Lucas, who squeezes his shoulder, urging him to go on. “But we like, _need_ a third person. Not for money reasons or anything but like. We have a problem.”

Renjun glances around the condo, looking for something that could be wrong with the place or with _them_. Up until now they seem like two pleasant dudes and the condo looks pretty perfect as it is: the walk from campus takes less than 15 minutes, they have an ensuite washer _and_ dryer on top of a fully functioning kitchen, and the view from the living room is pretty grand, outlooking a tranquil pond. This is a _home_ , not the typical university dorm experience.

Plus, if their attire is anything to go by—Lucas’ Burberry t-shirt and Balenciaga sneakers, Hendery’s Gucci slides—these guys are doing well financially. They don’t need Renjun’s rent to cover this place. Where’s the problem?

Then Hendery literally leaps into the air, screeching and clambering into his boyfriend’s arms, and Renjun thinks he understands the problem when he hears a croak.

“So, uh, Renjun,” Lucas says, looking down at the floor. His previously laid back persona is all gone, voice wavering as he strokes his boyfriend’s back, whose face remains half-hidden in Lucas’ shoulder. “We only have one question before we can make a decision: are you afraid of frogs?”

Renjun follows Lucas’ gaze to see a small frog standing behind him, probably no bigger than a clementine. Renjun crouches down on the floor, scooping up the animal off of the tiles.

“Could one of you open the door?” He asks, petting the frog’s tiny head with his index finger.

Hendery backs away, stepping behind the wall of the guest bathroom, to give way for Lucas to open up the front door. 

In the safety of the building hallway, Renjun sets the frog onto the ground. It croaks once before hopping away, slipping past the door when someone opens the side entrance.

“Be free, little guy.”

When he returns back inside the unit, Hendery’s holding a contract in one hand and a pen in the other.

“So… when can you move in?”

  
  


On the evening he officially moves into the condo, his roommates treat him to a night of fried chicken and beer at home and Renjun discovers the origin of their frog phobia.

“They freak me the fuck out,” Hendery says with a straight face.

“That’s it?” Renjun can’t imagine that’s enough of a reason to elicit his reaction, but fear’s fear. 

Hendery gets up, stretching his arms as he stands. “Yup. I hate them. Y’know how people are scared of circles and shit?”

“Tryphobia,” Lucas adds, right before he tears into chicken thigh.

“Yeah! That. Thanks babe.” Hendery passes by Lucas and places a kiss on his cheek before walking to the kitchen. “I’m like that with frogs. They just make me uncomfortable. Can’t explain why.”

“Unlike him,” Lucas says, slipping off the side of the couch to land on the floor. His shoulders bump next to Renjun as he cozies up next to him. “I have an _actual_ cause for my fear: when we were kids my brother chased me down the street with a huge toad in his hand.”

Renjun shivers. “Yikes. That makes sense. But, wait.” He looks out of the living room window, toward the pond. “Why’d you guys pick this condo then? Did you know about the frog problem before you moved in?”

“We didn’t, to be honest.” Lucas takes another sip of his beer. “The contract’s sealed until the end of the year so we’re stuck.”

“Damn. That sucks.”

Hendery joins them on the floor when he returns from the kitchen, carrying a bag of gummy worms in his hand. “I cried the first night we were here.” He buries his head into Lucas’ shoulder. “It fucking sucked.”

“We’re just glad we found you, though,” Lucas says, leaning to wrap an arm around Renjun’s shoulder. He pauses before saying, “wait, sorry. Is this fine?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine.” Renjun pats the top of his arm, to which Lucas places his hand and brings him in closer.

They let Renjun pick the next movie (“I fucking love _Avatar_!” Hendery cheers, gummy worm sticking out of his mouth) and Lucas barely makes it through the first 20 minutes before falling asleep, drifting off with his arm still clutching onto Renjun’s shoulder, pulled close into his side. Hendery follows suit an hour later. 

Renjun looks over at them, feels his heart leap in his chest with a fondness he’s never experienced before. This—his roommate, the pond-side view, the comforting warmth next to him—this he could definitely get used to.

The frog situation is not as bad as they described it. It’s kinda cute, if Renjun’s being honest.

Cute, like seeing a frog follow him home, leaping from the hallway onto their welcome mat. When he has the place to himself he lets the little tikes hop around for a bit before catching them in his palms and releasing them back outside. They mean no harm and they catch the flies—those, unfortunately, are a problem around the pond as well, but his roommates are more than willing to swat them on sight.

And it’s cute, too, seeing two tall men screech in the kitchen, clinging to each other like their lives depended on it whenever a teeny, tiny amphibian shows up. He understands their phobia, knows they’re _real_ , but that doesn’t stop him from experiencing the warmth that blossoms in his chest whenever he comes back inside, frog-free, and he hears them sigh in relief.

They make sure that his efforts are appreciated and acknowledged, too: Renjun’s share of the rent is low—even lower than his rent was with Yangyang, and given the amenities of this place he can’t help but wonder how much rent _actually_ is—and they both make sure to at least thank him every time Renjun comes rushing to their rescue, if not showering him with overflowing gratitude. Both his roommates aren’t shy with affection, whether to each other or toward Renjun.

Although it takes some warming up to in the beginning, Renjun begins to look forward to coming home after a long day of classes or an evening at the studio, to spotting those froggy fellas in their dorm and setting them free—if only for the chance of spending more time with his roommates afterward, of squeezing on the couch between the two of them with a bowl of popcorn in his lap and the ease of being home bringing him to sleep.

About two months into living with the Wongs, Renjun encounters his own problem. It starts when Hendery dubs them “Triple Huang.”

“Because we’re all Huangs—right? In Mandarin.”

They’re gathered in the dining room-turned-makeshift-study-room for a finals cram session, Renjun’s legs folded comfortably under the table with Hendery seated across from him, his printout of the IPA chart hidden beneath his headphones. Closer to the wall is Lucas sitting in a bean bag, quietly flipping through his film theory readings. With the close of the semester approaching, Renjun spends more time sitting at this table than in the campus library.

“Huang Xuxi, Huang Guanheng, and Huang Renjun,” Lucas replies, pointing first to himself, then Hendery, then Renjun. He echoes the movement in reverse, pointing at Renjun first when he says, “little Huang, middle Huang, big Huang.”

“Your Mandarin name is Xuxi?” Renjun asks. He’s never heard anyone call Lucas that before—just “Yukhei” from Hendery. The same applies likewise: Lucas calls Hendery “Kunhang” at home, and Renjun never bothered to ask about it.

“Mmmhm. You can call me Xuxi, if you’d like.” The smile Lucas sends him feels like a billion frogs are leaping in his stomach.

“Same here. I’m cool with Guanheng,” Hendery adds. He sets down his pencil on the table to place his hand over Renjun’s. “Can we call you Little Huang?”

It isn’t the matter of familiarity that’s an issue—being given a nickname is flattering, and getting the go ahead to call Lucas and Hendery in _his_ language gives Renjun a bubbly feeling inside. No, the issue lies in how he feels _about_ that familiarity, the way he longs for something he can’t place his finger on.

Naturally, the first person he seeks out for advice is his best friend.

“I can deal with, like, their constant couple-ness. I don’t mind it at all,” he says to Dejun one evening. They’re standing at the kitchen counter, Dejun watching by his side as Renjun pours chocolate chips slowly into the bowl of the stand mixer. “I love them together. They’re so cute and happy.”

“I know,” Dejun remarks, looking toward the living room. Next to the bookshelf hangs a framed Christmas photo of the Wongs. “They’re like a newlywed couple except they’ve been together for two years.”

Two years. Right.

“I, uh, have a problem, I guess.” This admission is… it’s a lot for him to do, but the first step to getting closure is to admit there’s a issue, right? Right. 

“I like Xuxi. Like… more than a normal amount.”

In saying that, Renjun realizes he could deal with that feeling on its own. Getting over one person? Easy, even easier when that person is already in a relationship.

But it’s not just that.

“There’s more,” Dejun says, flipping off the switch for the mixer.

Renjun removes the mixing bowl from the stand, placing it on the table. “I…” He trails off, pausing as he takes a spoonful of batter and rolls it into balls of cookie dough. “I like Guanheng too.”

“Ah,” Dejun runs a comforting hand up and down Renjun’s back. “What made you realize?”

“I’m… I’m not sure? We spend a lot of time together. Sometimes all three of us, sometimes just me and Xuxi or me and Guanheng.” He fills up the entire baking tray with evenly spaced cookie dough spheres before Dejun says anything.

“Are you sure you’re not, like, lonely or jealous? From seeing them together all the time?”

Renjun considers this briefly. He sets the oven timer for 12 minutes and looks over to the main bedroom.

Is he jealous?

He can imagine their bed from here, all undone, and thinks about his roommates, cuddling as they often do before leaving for classes. No green envy there.

Then he imagines himself _between_ them, the three of them in bed, or on the couch, sharing blankets and laughter, and it makes even more sense.

“No, I’m not… jealous.” He sighs. “I think I wanna be with _both_ of them. At the same time.”

Dejun leers at him, his expression so serious Renjun feels like he’s burning beneath the sun, shrivelling under his gaze. 

“If that’s what _you_ want,” he says, taking a spoonful of dough and beginning to roll it in between his palms. “Do you think they might want that too?”

  
  
  


Renjun decides to call a roommate meeting the day after his conversation with Dejun.

To his misfortune it falls on the morning of his ballet performance (well, not his performance, but the performance of his kiddos at the dance school he volunteers at) and he’s already nervous about _that_. Poor timing on his end, honestly.

Calling it a meeting is actually far too formal for what it ends up being: Renjun knocking on their bedroom door on a Friday morning.

“Morning,” Hendery says, rubbing his eyelids. He beckons for Renjun to come in and only when Renjun sits on the edge of their king-sized bed does he realize they’re both shirtless under the blankets. Maybe he should’ve waited until he got home tonight.

Renjun sucks in a sharp breath. “I need to talk to you both about something.”

Hendery seems to sense the seriousness of his tone too, adjusting himself to sit upright. The intensity of his focus on Renjun’s face makes him want to shrivel up and leap away.

Lucas shuffles up the bed to rest his back against the headboard. “What’s up, little Huang?”

That nickname, coupled with the worried expressions that both of them are shooting his way? Renjun’s heart isn’t strong enough for this.

But he needs to talk to them, and if he wants anything to come of this—a place to live, at minimum—he needs to open up a space for clear communication.

“I’m just… gonna be blunt.” He inhales again, forces his nerves out. “I like both of you.”

Their silence makes him anxious. Without any response from them, he continues. “In like… a more than roommate way? I’m sorry if that makes it weird, I know, I— I enjoy spending time with you guys. A lot. Nothing needs to come of this, though. I just wanted to be honest about my feelings.” He looks down at his lap, playing with the hem of his pajama pants. “I hope this doesn’t change things. I'm happy living with you.”

As if on cue, Renjun hears the pad of something on the floor and he spots it: another frog.

“I’ll be back,” he says, bending down to catch it.

The air outside is crisp, the autumn leaves surrounding their building fading into hues of yellow— _triple Huang_ , he’s reminded, and his stomach flips in time with the frog hopping along the pavement.

When he comes back inside, he finds Lucas and Hendery still in their bed.

“Renjun,” Lucas says as Renjun approaches on the edge of their bed. It’s the way his voice sounds—bright and soothing—that makes him optimistic for whatever follows.

Hendery taps the mattress again, beckoning him forward. Renjun scoots further up the bed until he’s seated next to their calves, knees knocking into their legs.

“We like you too. Both of us.” Lucas reaches forward, places a hand over Renjun’s to stroke his thumb over the back of his hand. “Ever since we met you, truthfully.”

Renjun’s heart jumps out of his chest. “Really?”

Hendery nods. “Really. We weren’t sure if three people could work, but.” Hendery reaches to the side table, pulling up his phone. “I did a lot of research about throuples. I think we’d work out if you’re willing to talk about it.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, grinning. “That’d be great.”

Lucas and Hendery both shimmy over, clearing some space in the middle. They unfold the blanket and pat the mattress.

“Hop in!”

Renjun couldn’t be happier to.

**Author's Note:**

> hoping to revisit this universe again in the future because i love triple huang so much and i wanna write more xiaomark ;~; comments are greatly appreciated ♡
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/boyfrendery) | [cc](https://curiouscat.me/boyfrendery)


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